U.S. Vice President Joe Biden meets Pope Francis after both leaders spoke at a conference on adult stem cell research at the Vatican April 29. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
As Joseph R. Biden Jr., the second Catholic president in U.S. history, continues to fill out his administration, a number of important executive and ambassadorial nominees will go before the Senate. One position of particular interest for American Catholics is the U.S. ambassadorship to the Holy See.
Since 1984, the United States and the Holy See have maintained formal diplomatic relations, building on a fraught history of relations going back to the Washington administration. Mr. Biden, who keeps a photo of himself and Pope Francis on a table behind his desk in the Oval Office, is likely to consider several factors in his decision, including what priorities Mr. Biden would seek to emphasize with the Holy See, the expertise and familiarity with the church of the candidates and what message Mr. Biden wants to send to
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